EU observers reject Colombia fraud claims, call vote transparent
7 reported
The European Union’s Electoral Observation Mission to Colombia dismissed President Gustavo Petro’s claims of fraud in Sunday’s presidential election, stating the vote count was carried out in a “transparent, orderly and fluid” manner. Mission chief Esteban González Pons said none of the 12 candidates came to the mission with claims of irregularities. A second round of voting is scheduled for June 21 between lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and Sen. Iván Cepeda, the top two candidates. Cepeda, representing Petro’s Historical Pact party, initially refused to acknowledge a quick count but later said his party’s monitors found no irregularities sufficient to speak of fraud. Petro, who cannot run for re-election, posted on X that 885,000 voters were registered after a March 31 deadline, without providing evidence. Colombia’s National Registrars Office reported a minimal variation of 0.06% between the quick count and final review of 99.98% of voting tables. The EU mission selected a random sample of tally sheets and found no inconsistencies, with González Pons stating, “We can discard any manipulation of data in the quick count and in the final count.”
What’s reported
The EU Electoral Observation Mission dismissed Petro’s fraud claims, calling the vote “transparent, orderly and fluid.”
Mission chief Esteban González Pons said no candidate reported irregularities to the mission.
A second round is set for June 21 between Abelardo de la Espriella (43.7%) and Iván Cepeda (40.9%).
Cepeda initially refused to acknowledge the quick count but later said his party’s monitors found no “irregularities of a sufficient dimension to speak of fraud.”
Petro posted on X that 885,000 voters were registered after a March 31 deadline, without providing evidence.
Colombia’s National Registrars Office found a 0.06% variation between the quick count and final review of 99.98% of voting tables.
The EU mission compared a random sample of tally sheets to physical ballots and found no inconsistencies.
Key figures
President Gustavo Petro
Esteban González Pons, chief of the EU Electoral Observation Mission
Abelardo de la Espriella, presidential candidate
Sen. Iván Cepeda, presidential candidate
Sources: abcnews.com
